Time,
an exhibition featuring nine newly commissioned works by artists born
in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan. This is the second exhibition
of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative, a
long-term research, curatorial, and collections-building program at the
Guggenheim Museum.

Though diverse in subjects and strategies, the
works are united by the artists’ use of storytelling to propose
alternative ways of looking at place. Working in drawing, animation,
video, photography, sculpture, installation, and participatory
intervention, the artists in the exhibition address the concept of
geography and territory in ways as specific as where they are based or
as big as China itself, which they see as a concept constantly being
questioned and reinvented. These artists freely cross divides to examine
the tensions between past and present, myth and fact, reality and
dreams, rationality and absurdity, and individuality and collectivity.

“Curators Xiaoyu Weng and Hou Hanru have taken a
dynamic and collaborative approach, as they worked closely with the
commissioned artists to explore the questions and insights that drive
these art practices. We hope that these works will inform new
understanding of global contemporary art through the lens of Chinese
culture today,” stated Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum and Foundation. “The Guggenheim is grateful to The
Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation for its sustained commitment to this
effort.”

Ted Lipman, CEO of The Robert H. N. Ho Family
Foundation, congratulated the commissioned artists and noted,
“Contemporary Chinese art, along with the dialogue around it, is a
dynamic and increasingly important force shaping the global cultural
landscape. The Chinese Art Initiative at the Guggenheim is designed to
offer a fresh perspective on Chinese culture and its relationship with
contemporary society. The Foundation hopes the impact of this initiative
will be a lasting one.”

“The artists represented in Tales of Our Time
vary greatly in their practices and viewpoints,” says Xiaoyu Weng. “But
they share a broad perspective, one that places China’s culture,
history, and social reality in the context of the wider world. And like
so many artists today, they register acute discomfort with the tension
between the personal experiences of regular people and the dominant
narratives and conventions of power.”